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Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems

Tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are now impossible to run from when buying a new vehicle. Every new vehicle made for sale in the USA has a TPM system as standard equipment. There are several exceptions though: the vehicle must have only four wheels (so no dual-wheeled trucks or motorcycles), and the GVWR must be less than 10,000lbs.

Lincoln incorporated a TPM system on one of their vehicles from 1995-2002. That vehicle had a SmarTire strap system. By 2003, Ford moved on to using a metal-valved Schrader sensor for their SUV models. In 2005, a Lear strap system was brought in, but all Ford’s will soon be using a rubber-valved Schrader sensor. The 2009 F150 is the first Ford model to run this rubber-valved sensor. We carry every sensor, strap and valve-mounted, and all accessories needed to install them.

The basics of the direct TPMS is that it uses a sensor in the wheel/tire to wirelessly relay pressure back to the driver on some sort of display. Some vehicles have a digital info screen that will show all four tire pressures (five pressures if spare has sensor) all the time. While others might just flash a low-tire-pressure light on the dash. There are also two different styles of sensors for this system: a valve-mounted sensor and a strap/band-mounted sensor. A strap or band sensor is held onto the wheel by a metal strap that wraps around the inside barrel. This complicates the wheel fitments since each strap is fit to each wheel (ie. 18” band for 18” wheel). The OE bands are crimped from the factory so they can not be swapped from one wheel to another since they have to be cut in order to be removed from the wheel. The bands we carry can be adjusted from 14in diameter wheels to 26in diameter wheels and can be swapped from one wheel set to the next.

Ford’s indirect system will not affect the choice of switching aftermarket wheels or tires. The system runs off of the ABS/wheel-speed sensors which “count” the number of revolutions of each tire. If the right-front tire is low (25psi) it will spin faster than the left-front tire (35psi), so the ABS system will recognize this change and alert the driver with a flashing light near the gauge cluster and possibly a loud chime.

Since 1995, the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury line-up has used nine different sensors, so be wary on which sensor is correct for your vehicle. If you have any questions about the TPMS-fitment on a wheel that The Tire Rack sells, I can look up the wheel and confirm if it will work with your vehicle.

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I'm not sure if this is where I can ask a question, but we have a 2007 mustang gt convertible. Just purchased 20 inch weld racing evo chrome wheels with pirelli tires mounted/balanced ready to go, but questioned mounter about sensors and he put the brakes on. Said wouldn't work. Any ideas? Thanks

Yes you can reuse the strap and sensor if you are using the same size rim. IE 17" for 17". Just make sure when you swap them to put the sensor 180 out form the valve stem. Now if you are going bigger in wheel size, then you must buy new straps, but use your sensors. Napa I think has the straps for around 10 bucks each. Ford wants near 40 each. Just get the strap the same size as the wheel.

Hey folks, I'm still deciding on the new set of wheels to go with (I'll have to deal with them for a while, so I want to make sure I pick the right ones :-) and I have another question:

If I were to buy a new set of wheels + tires + TPMS sensors already mounted (tirerack.com offers that option), is there any kind of process/reset that needs to be done so that the car recognizes the new sensors? or does that happen automatically? I checked my owner's guide but couldn't find that particular info. I have a 2007 GT.

You will need a tool to train the sensors to your car.If you have the tool you can do it. The tool is a OTC 204-363, this isthe tool used by ourFord dealer. Iwent with the pvc tube, no need to retrain the sensors.

I also have a set of 20" rims that were installed by the dealer. They said that they didn't think there was any sort of way to get the TPMS system to work. However, I looked on the tire rack website and saw that you can buy them. My question now is, when the car is sold, is it required to have the TPMS system working? Looks like it's pretty expensive to buy the straps and sensors for four 20" rims. If that's the case, I'll just keep hitting the reset button when the TPMS fault comes on when I start the engine

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